Abdullah Faiz¹, Mahbob Shah Sultani², and Esmatullah Haidari¹

1. Department of Agricultural Extension, Faculty of Agriculture, Herat University, Afghanistan

2. Department of Plant Protections, Faculty of Agriculture, Herat University, Afghanistan

 

 

Abstract: Saffron (Crocus sativus L.) is the most precious and most expensive spice in the world and is one of the important commercial crops in Afghanistan. Since the saffron re-cultivation and introduction started by 2002, the farmer knowledge on package of practices remain conspicuous. The present study was conducted in Pashtoon Zarghon district of Herat province, Afghanistan during 2012 to assess the knowledge level of the saffron growers regarding recommended cultivation practices. A total of 120 saffron farmers from Shah Abad and Golmir were interviewed using a pre-tested schedule. It was found that the over-all knowledge level of farmers in these areas varied significantly, about 65.0% of saffron growers had medium level knowledge, 21.7% had high level knowledge and 13.3% had low level of knowledge regarding recommended cultivation practices. Among the 120 farmers interviewed, 95.8-98.3% had correct knowledge on duration of the recommended corm, corm rate, fungi control, suitable month for sowing, number of stigma in each flower, appropriate weight for corm, recommended corm, earthing up, crust-breaking after planting and annually. Age, education, land holding and mass media participation of saffron growers had a positive and significant relationship with knowledge level. Hence, a series of educational activities should be undertaken by the agencies which focus on the good agricultural practices to improve the knowledge level of farmers.

 

Key words: Saffron (Crocus sativus L.), Saffron in Afghanistan, knowledge level, cultivation recommendation